Bateson, Catherine 1960–

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Bateson, Catherine 1960–

PERSONAL:

Born 1960; married; children: four.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Belgrave, Victoria, Australia.

CAREER:

Author, 1990—; creative writing teacher at Central Gippsland Institute of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) and Box Hill Institute of TAFE.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Book of the Year designation, Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA), 2003, New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, 2003, and Queensland Premier's Literary Award, 2003, all for Rain May and Captain Daniel; CBCA Honour Book for Older Readers designation, Australian Family Therapists' Award, New South Wales Premier's Literary Award, and Queensland Premier's Literary Award, all 2003, all for Pained Love Letters; John Shaw Neilson Award, shortlisted, CBCA 2006 Children's Book of the Year Younger Readers award, for Millie and the Night Heron.

WRITINGS:

FOR YOUNG ADULTS

A Dangerous Girl, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2000.

The Year It All Happened, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2001.

Painted Love Letters, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia.), 2002.

Rain May and Captain Daniel, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2002, published as Stranded in Boringsville, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2005.

The Airdancer of Glass, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2004.

Millie and the Night Heron, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2005, published as The Boyfriend Rules of Good Behavior, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2006.

His Name in Fire, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2006.

Being Bee, University of Queensland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 2006, Holiday House (New York, NY), 2007.

OTHER

Pomegranates from the Underworld (poetry), Pariah Press (Kew, Victoria, Australia), 1990.

The Vigilant Heart (poetry), University of Queenland Press (St. Lucia, Queensland, Australia), 1998.

Also author of short fiction. Author of blog, CattyRox.

SIDELIGHTS:

Award-winning Australian author Catherine Bateson credits a childhood spent in a used bookstore with sparking her career as a poet and author of young-adult fiction. A published poet, Bateson made the transition to fiction by creating A Dangerous Girl and its sequel, The Year It All Happened, verse novels that reflect the concerns and speech of modern Australian teens.

In Painted Love Letters, Bateson tells the story of Chrissie, a teen who must deal with the death of her mother to lung cancer and the tragedy's effect on other family members. Rain May and Captain Daniel, published as Stranded in Boringsville in the United States, finds an inner-city mother and daughter adapting to platypus, fruit bats, and other quirks of life in rural Australia. Rain, the daughter, soon begins to develop a friendship with neighbor Daniel, a relationship that is revealed in both voices via alternating chapters. Reviewing the American edition, Booklist contributor Chris Sherman noted that "Bateson deftly allows Rain and Daniel to chronicle their budding friendship," and further wrote that "readers will ache for the kids." Reviewing the same title in School Library Journal, Debbie Stewart Hoskins found it an "enjoyable and quirky story," while a Kirkus Reviews critic felt it was "rewarding." Further praise came from Horn Book contributor Jennifer M. Brabander, who wrote: "Both protagonists provide humorous, lively narratives filled with creative descriptions."

Bateson's 2005 novel, Millie and the Night Heron, was also published in the United States under the title The Boyfriend Rules of Good Behavior. The work centers on teenaged Millie and her single mom, Kate. When Kate lands a new job, the pair relocates to a new town, leaving behind the other members of their nontraditional family: Sherri, Kate's best friend, and Mitchell, her young son. Though she is frustrated by the changes at first, Millie eventually develops a crush on Rowan, a popular boy at her school, and bonds with her mother's new boyfriend, Tom, over a school science project. "Millie's growing understanding of herself, her environment, and the adults in her life is the true focus" of The Boyfriend Rules of Good Behavior, according to School Library Journal critic Suzanne Gordon. A Kirkus Reviews critic summed up the story as "a tender-hearted view of maturation from a blossoming young girl's perspective."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 2005, Chris Sherman, review of Stranded in Boringsville, p. 45.

Horn Book, January-February, 2006, Jennifer M. Brabander, review of Stranded in Boringsville, p. 73.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2005, review of Stranded in Boringsville, p. 1134; October 1, 2006, review of The Boyfriend Rules of Good Behavior, p. 1010.

School Library Journal, February, 2006, Debbie Stewart Hoskins, review of Stranded in Boringsville, p. 128; November 1, 2006, Suzanne Gordon, review of The Boyfriend Rules of Good Behavior, p. 129.

Voice of Youth Advocates, February, 2006, Julie Watkins, review of Stranded in Boringsville, p. 48.